Congress MP Dr. Shashi Tharoor raised the issue of delayed land acquisition compensation under the Outer Ring Road (NH-866) project in Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, 23 July 2026, filing a submission under Rule 377 that was laid on the Table of the House.

Context

In his Rule 377 submission, Dr. Tharoor drew attention to the plight of 'over 6,500 landowners' who are awaiting compensation under the NH-866 Outer Ring Road project, a proposed bypass and ring road infrastructure initiative designed to ease chronic traffic congestion in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala. Rule 377 of Lok Sabha procedure allows members to raise matters of urgent public importance that cannot be raised through other procedural avenues, and submissions made under it are formally recorded in the House.

Dr. Tharoor, who has represented Thiruvananthapuram as a Member of Parliament since 2009, has consistently used parliamentary mechanisms to flag constituency-level infrastructure and governance concerns. The NH-866 project, while widely acknowledged as critical for urban mobility in the city, has been accompanied by unresolved compensation claims from affected landowners.

Policy Backdrop

Land acquisition compensation in India is governed by the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which replaced the colonial-era Land Acquisition Act of 1894. The 2013 law mandates time-bound compensation, rehabilitation, and resettlement for all landowners displaced by public projects, including national highway development.

Delays in disbursing such compensation have been a recurring problem in highway and ring-road projects across Indian states. These delays reflect a structural tension between the pace of accelerated highway construction under programmes such as Bharatmala and the procedural safeguards enshrined in the 2013 Act. Kerala's urban projects face additional complications owing to high population density and fragmented land holdings, making acquisition and compensation processes more complex than in less densely populated states.

Stakeholders and Impact

The most immediate stakeholders are the 6,500-plus landowners whose properties have been acquired or are in the process of acquisition for the NH-866 corridor. Prolonged delays in compensation can leave families without either their land or the financial resources to resettle, often forcing them into litigation or protest.

Residents of Thiruvananthapuram at large also have a stake in the project's timely completion: the Outer Ring Road is intended to divert heavy traffic away from the city's congested interior roads, improving daily commutes and reducing pollution. Stalled compensation proceedings risk delaying construction timelines, deferring those broader civic benefits.

What's Next

The submission now formally places the matter on the parliamentary record, creating an obligation for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to respond to the concerns raised. Observers will watch for a ministerial statement or written reply addressing the status of pending compensation claims under the NH-866 project.

The issue could also surface during a Public Accounts Committee review of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) projects, or during the next Lok Sabha session if compensation disbursals remain stalled. Dr. Tharoor's intervention signals that the matter is likely to remain under parliamentary scrutiny until affected landowners receive their due settlements.